[PRICE   THIRTY  CENTS.'] 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY 


A  LECTURE   DELIVERED  AT  THE   OPENING  OF  THE 

TERM  OF  THE  UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 

NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  19,  1889 


WITH    AN    APPENDIX 


BY 


CHARLES    AUGUSTUS    BRIGGS,    D.D. 

DAVENPORT  PROFESSOR  OF  HEBREW  AND  THE  COGNATE  LANGUAGES  IN  THE 
UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,   NEW  YORK. 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1889 


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Lopy  I 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 
American  Presbyterianlsm.    itsOrigin  and 

Early  History,  together  with  an  Appendix  of  Letters 
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Messianic  Prophecy.  The  Prediction  of  the 
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critical  study  of  the  Messianic  passages  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  order  of  their  development.  Cr. 
8vo, i2-50 

Biblical  Study.  Its  Principles,  Methods,  and 
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Whither?  A  Theological  Question  for  the  Times. 
Crown  8vo, $1.75 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY 


A  LECTURE    DELIVERED  AT   THE   OPENING  OF   THE 

TERM  OF  THE   UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 

NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  19,  1889 


WITH    AN    APPENDIX 


BY 

CHARLES    AUGUSTUS    BRIGGS,    D.D. 

DAVENPORT  PROFESSOR  OF  HEBREW  AND  THE  COGNATE  LANGUAGES  IN  THE 
UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,   NEW  YORK. 


NEW  YORK 

CHAELES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1889 


COPYRIGHT,   1889,   BY 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS. 


JENKINS-   SON     PRINTER, 
N.    WILLIAM    STREET, 
NEW  YORK. 


PREFACE 


In  accordance  with  the  appointment  of  the  Faculty 
of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  I  de- 
livered the  opening  lecture  of  the  term,  on  Thursday, 
September  19,  1889,  before  the  directors,  faculty,  stu- 
dents, and  friends  of  the  institution.  The  theme  selected 
by  me  was  Biblical  History.  It  was  not  my  intention 
to  publish  the  lecture  at  present.  But  the  interest 
manifested  in  the  lecture  by  those  who  heard  it,  and  by 
others  who  did  not  hear  it,  the  large  number  of  requests 
for  its  publication,  and  the  criticisms  upon  it  in  several 
journals,  on  the  basis  of  an  incorrect  report,  seem  to 
require  its  immediate  publication.  The  address  is  pub- 
lished exactly  as  it  was  delivered.  It  was  prepared  for 
the  audience  to  which  it  was  delivered.  It  presupposes 
some  degree  of  acquaintance  with  other  writings  of  the 
author,  especially  of  his  "  Biblical  Study."  It  seemed 
best  to  print  in  the  Appendix  a  number  of  extracts  from 
these  writings,  and  other  notes  explaining  to  the  general 
public  some  of  the  more  difficult  matters  contained  in 
the  lecture. 

The  author  has  endeavored  to  give  a  fresh  study  of 

one  of  the  most  difficult  and  delicate  questions  of  our 

(5) 


g  PREFACE. 

times.  He  does  not  expect  to  please  those  who  find 
nothing  desirable  outside  the  beaten  tracks.  Novelties 
are  to  them  heresies.  He  aims  rather,  to  stimulate  those 
who  believe  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will  guide  into  all 
truth,  and  are  willing  and  eager  to  find  new  truth  as  well 
as  old  in  the  Word  of  God.  That  Word  liveth  and 
abideth  forever.  Its  treasures  of  wisdom  were  not 
exhausted  by  our  fathers.  It  has  precious  fruits  for 
us  also. 


BIBLICAL   HISTORY. 


Biblical  History  is  the  History  contained  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  It  is  nec- 
essary to  distinguish  it  from  the  History  of  Israel  on 
the  one  hand,  and  from  the  recent  theological  discipline 
called  "  Contemporary  History  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments "  on  the  other.  I  do  not  undervalue  either  of 
these  two  important  branches  of  History  when  I  urge 
that  Biblical  History  is  a  separate  branch.  I  rather 
aim  to  put  these  three  branches  of  history,  that  deal 
more  or  less  with  the  same  themes,  in  their  true  rela- 
tions. 

The  Contemporary  History  of  the  Old  Testament  aims 
to  study  the  history  of  the  nations  that  influenced  Israel. 
It  studies  the  monuments  of  Babylon,  Egypt,  Phoenicia, 
Assyria,  and  the  lesser  nations  that  encompassed  Israel 
or  were  entwined  with  him  in  his  development.  It 
studies  the  history  of  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome,^the 
ancient  masters  of  the  world  that  held  Israel  in  subjec- 
tion. 

These  cast  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  history  recorded 
in  the  Bible  and  give  us  invaluable  information  with  re- 
gard to  the  external  influences  working  upon  Israel  and 
co-operating  with  the  internal  influences  to  produce  his 
historical  training.  Great  attention  has  been  paid  to 
this  method  of  study  in  recent  times,  and  it  has  in  many 

(7) 


g  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

minds  overwhelmed  and  absorbed  the  study  of  Biblical 
History  itself. 

Biblical  History  moves  on  its  way  in  the  narratives  of 
the  Bible,  touching  the  great  nations  of  the  Old  World 
at  various  points  in  its  advancement,  giving  and  receiv- 
ing influences  of  various  kinds,  but  pervaded  with  a 
sense  of  an  overpowering  force  that  has  determined  not 
only  the  History  of  Israel,  but  of  all  nations  of  the 
world.  Israel  has  been  a  football  of  the  nations,  trod- 
den under  foot  and  tossed  hither  and  thither  by  those 
mightier  than  he,  but  he  has  been  a  ball  of  light  and  fire 
that  no  violence  could  quench ;  for  a  divine  blessing 
was  in  him  for  all  mankind.  God  cast  Israel  into  the 
fiery  furnace  that  his  dross  might  be  consumed  and  the 
pure  gold  shine  in  its  glorious  lustre.  The  nations  were 
his  hammers,  to  beat  him  into  the  holy  image  God  had 
designed  for  him  from  the  beginning. 

The  earlier  Isaiah  warns  the  proud  Assyrian : 

"  Wherefore  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that,  when  Adonay  hath  per- 
formed his  whole  work  on  Mount  Zion  and  on  Jerusalem, 

"  I  will  punish  the  fruit  of  the  stout  heart  of  the  king  of  As- 
syria and  the  glory  of  his  high  looks." 

"  Shall  the  axe  boast  itself  against  him  that  heweth  therewith  ? 
Or,  shall  the  saw  magnify  itself  against  him  that  shaketh  it  ?  " 
(Isaiah  x.  12,  15). 

And  the  later  Isaiah  encourages  Israel : 

"  And  now,  thus  saith  Jahveh, 
Thy  creator,  O  Jacob,  and  thy  former,  O  Israel, 
Fear  not,  for  I  have  redeemed  thee. 
I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name,  thou  art  mine ; 
When  thou  passeth  through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee ; 
And  in  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  o'erflow  thee  : 
When  thou  walkest  in  the  fire,  thou  shalt  not  be  burned, 
Neither  shall  the  flame  consume  thee. 
For  I,  Jahveh,  am  thy  God, 
The  Holy  One  of  Israel  is  thy  Saviour"  (Isaiah  xliii.  1-3). 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  9 

The  Hebrew  Prophets  see  that  Jahveh,  the  God  of 
Israel,  shaped  all  the  migrations  of  the  nations,  all  the 
movements  of  mankind,  all  the  revolutions  of  history, 
for  the  training  of  His  own  well-beloved  people. 
"  When  the  Most  High  gave  to  the  nations  their  inheritance 

When  he  separated  the  children  of  men, 

He  set  the  bounds  of  the  peoples, 

According  to  the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel ; 

For  Jahveh 's  portion  is  his  people. 

Jacob  is  the  lot  of  his  inheritance"  (Deut.  xxxii.  8-9). 

And  yet  Israel  was  not  for  himself  alone.  The  Biblical 
historians  do  not  encourage  any  neglect  of  the  other 
nations  of  the  world.  They  represent  that  all  are  to 
share  in  the  blessings  of  Abraham ;  they  see  them  all 
ultimately  before  the  judgment-seat  of  God ;  they  look 
forward  to  their  ultimate  incorporation  in  the  kingdom 
under  the  Messianic  King.  The  prophet  rebukes  Israel 
for  supposing  that  he  alone  was  the  people  of  God,  and 
that  all  the  other  nations  were  neglected  by  the  God  of 
all  the  earth. 

"  Are  ye  not  as  the  children  of  the  Ethiopians  unto  me, 
O  children  of  Israel,  saith  Jahveh, 
Have  not  I  brought  up  Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
And  the  Philistines  from  Caphtor,  and  the  Syrians  from  Kir?" 

(Amos  ix.  7). 
God  watched  over  the  other  nations  of  the  world, 
guided  their  history,  and  will  bring  them  also  to  sal- 
vation and  judgment.  No  one  can  altogether  under- 
stand Biblical  History  until  he  has  placed  it  in  the  light 
of  its  Contemporary  History,  and  yet  he  would  make  a 
vast  mistake  who  would  suppose  that  this  Contemporary 
History  is  the  key  to  Biblical  History.  The  Biblical 
History  is  the  centre  of  this  circumference  of  nations. 
It  is  the  Sun  in  the  midst  of  the  world  in  whose  rising 


10  BIBLICAL   HISTORY. 

all  mankind  are  to  rejoice  (Is.  Ix.).  It  is  the  light  stream- 
ing forth  from  Biblical  History  that  illuminates  the  Con- 
temporary History.  Contemporary  History  reflects  the 
rays  of  that  light.  The  study  of  the  one  ought  not  to 
conflict  with  the  study  of  the  other. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  distinguish  Biblical  History 
from  the  History  of  Israel.  The  history  of  Israel  is  a 
part  of  the  history  of  the  world.  It  is  a  section  of  the 
discipline  of  Universal  History.  It  should  be  studied 
with  a  purely  scientific  interest.  It  uses  Biblical  His- 
tory as  one  of  its  sources  ;  it  uses  Contemporary  History 
as  another;  it  arranges  all  its  material  in  a  scientific 
manner,  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  historic  de- 
velopment. It  is  on  the  one  side  more  extensive  than 
Biblical  History.  It  fills  up  the  numerous  blanks  that 
are  left  therein  from  other  sources  of  information. 

The  period  between  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  is 
of  no  importance  to  Biblical  History ;  but  it  is  of  vast 
importance  to  the  History  of  Israel.  The  historian  will 
lay  much  more  stress  upon  it  than  upon  many  earlier 
periods  where  the  Biblical  writers  dwell  at  length.  On 
the  other  hand  the  History  of  Israel  is  less  extensive 
than  Biblical  History.  It  does  not  enter  into  the  prov- 
ince of  the  supernatural,  that  most  characteristic  feature 
of  Biblical  History.  It  stumbles  at  theophanies,  mir- 
acles, and  prophecies.  It  finds  it  difficult  to  adjust  these 
supernatural  features  to  the  principles  of  scientific  study. 
The  purely  personal  relations  of  Jahveh  to  his  people 
are  matters  into  which  the  scientific  historian  does  not 
venture. 

The  scientific  study  of  the  History  of  Israel  is  of  vast 
importance.  No  one  can  understand  altogether  the  His- 
tory of  Israel,  unless  Israel's  true  place  and  importance 
in  universal  history  have  been  determined.    Each  one  of 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  H 

the  great  nations  of  the  old  world  has  contributed  its 
own  best  achievements  for  the  weal  of  humanity.  No 
one  can  understand  the  workings  of  God  in  History  who 
does  not  estimate,  to  some  extent  at  least,  the  work  of 
Egypt  and  Assyria,  of  Phoenicia  and  Persia,  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  in  the  advancement  of  mankind.  The  his- 
tory of  the  world  is,  as  Lessing  grandly  shows,  the 
divine  education  of  our  race ;  and  every  nation  has  its 
share  in  that  instruction,  and  contributes  its  quota  of  ex- 
perience to  the  successive  generations.  The  nations  of 
the  modern  world  have  all  come  into  line  with  their  inter- 
play of  forces,  making  the  problem  more  complex  and 
wonderful.  The  old  nations  of  the  Orient — China,  In- 
dia, and  Japan — with  Africa  and  the  islands  of  the  sea, 
share  in  that  education  and  service.  The  world  is  one 
in  origin,  in  training,  and  in  destiny.  There  is  force  in 
Renan's  remark : 

"Jewish  History  that  would  have  the  monopoly  of  the  mir- 
acle is  not  a  bit  more  extraordinary  than  Greek  History.  If 
the  supernatural  intervention  is  necessary  to  explain  the  one, 
the  supernatural  intervention  is  also  necessary  to  explain  the 
other."  * 

I  do  not  agree  with  his  use  of  the  term  supernat- 
ural. But  I  do  agree  with  him  in  the  opinion  that  the 
hand  of  God  alone  can  explain  the  history  of  Greece  and 
the  blessings  it  contained  for  mankind.  The  school  of 
Clement  of  Alexandria  were  correct  in  the  opinion  that 
the  philosophy  of  Greece  was  a  divinely  ordered  prepa- 
ration for  the  gospel,  as  were  the  law  and  the  prophets 
of  Israel.  The  Biblical  historians  were  the  first  to  see 
this  fact,  and  to  set  it  forth  in  the  horizon  of  their  nar- 
ratives. They  see  that  the  God  of  Israel  is  the  God 
seated  upon  the  circle  of  the  heavens,  turning  the  hearts 

*  Histoire  du  Peuple  dVsrael,  I.,  p.  v. 


12  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

of  kings  and  nations ;  they  know  that  the  Messiah  of 
Israel  is  the  universal  King ;  they  see  all  the  forces  of 
history  converging  toward  His  universal  sway.  It  is  a 
Hebrew  poet  who  describes  the  New  Jerusalem  as  the 
city  of  the  regeneration  of  the  nations : 

"  Glorious  things  are  being  spoken  in  thee,  city  of  God  ! 
I  mention  Rahab  and  Babel  as  belonging  to  those  who  know 

me; 
Lo,  Philistia  and  Tyre  with  Gush :  '  This  one  was  born  there,' 
And  as  belonging  to  Zion,  it  is  said, — '  This  one  and  that  one 

were  born  in  her,' 
And  Elyon,  Jahveh — he  establisheth  her. 
He  counteth  in  writing  up  the  peoples, — '  This  one  was  bom 

there,' 
Yea,  they  are  singing  as  well  as  dancing,  all  those  who  dwell 

in  thee."* 

We  do  not  by  any  means  undervalue  the  scientific 
study  of  the  History  of  Israel  and  the  origins  of  Chris- 
tianity. We  do  not  depreciate  the  importance  of  the 
Contemporary  History  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ments, when  we  insist  that  Biblical  History  has  its  own 
place  and  importance  as  the  lamp  of  the  nations  and  the 
key  for  the  development  of  mankind.f 

Biblical  History  is  confined  to  the  history  recorded  in 
the  canonical  writings  of  the  Scriptures.  Here  is  a 
group  of  sacred  histories  that  are  of  unique  import- 
ance. They  cover  a  wide  range  in  time,  an  immense 
mass  of  detail ;  they  were  written  by  different  writers, 
in  three  different  languages,  and  yet  they  have  common 
features  that  distinguish  them  from  all  other  histories, 
and  entitle  them  to  be  bound  together  in  one  book  as 
Biblical  History. 

This  history  extends  over  a  vast  period  of  time :  it  be- 

*  Ps.  Ixxxvii.    See  Briggs'  Messianic  Prophecy^  p.  227.         f  See  Appendix  I. 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  13 

gins  with  the  creation  of  the  world,  it  closes  with  the 
erection  of  the  banner  of  the  Messiah  in  Rome,  the 
capital  of  the  world.  It  is  narrower  in  its  geographical 
range.  Its  centre  is  Palestine,  a  little  land  that  has  al- 
ways been  and  always  must  be,  for  geographical  rea- 
sons, the  centre  of  the  world.  But  it  radiates  from  this 
centre  into  all  the  territories  of  the  great  nations  of  the 
Old  World.  It  deals  with  a  little  nation  and  very  often 
with  single  persons,  but  that  nation  was  the  people  of 
God,  the  bearer  of  the  greatest  religions  of  the  world, 
Judaism  and  Christianity,  which  have  determined  the 
entire  development  of  mankind  ;  and  these  individuals 
were  the  prophets  of  God  :  Abraham,  Moses,  Samuel, 
David,  Solomon,  Elijah,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezra — names 
that  outshine  the  brightest  stars  of  other  nations  in 
moral  worth,  and  all  of  whom  point,  as  watchers  of  the 
night,  to  the  dawn  of  the  sun  of  the  world,  Jesus  Christ, 
the  greatest  of  men,  the  Son  of  God,  and  Saviour  of 
man.  Such  a  history  that  discloses  to  us  the  religious 
heroes  of  mankind,  the  banner-bearers  of  God  ;  and  that 
culminates  in  the  glories  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
has  a  unique  place  and  importance  in  the  development 
of  the  world. 

Biblical  History  is  wonderful  in  its  variety.  Four  dif- 
ferent types  of  writers  give  us  four  different  points  of 
view,  of  the  most  important  and  fundamental  characters 
and  events.  There  are  four  Gospels,  that  combine  to 
give  us  a  comprehensive  view  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Sav- 
iour. Any  one  of  them  is  easily  worth  all  other  books 
written  by  men.  We  have  also  four  narratives  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Old  Covenant. 

Higher  Criticism  has  traced  these  four  narratives  in 
the  Hexateuch,  and  has  for  the  most  part  separated  them 
so  that  we  can  place  them  in  parallelism,  just  as  we  do 


14  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

the  gospels  in  our  Harmonies.  A  postexilic  editor  com- 
pacted them  together,  just  as  Tatian  did  the  gospels  in 
the  second  Christian  century.*  Dogmatists  and  Tradi- 
tionalists have  gone  on  "  snorting  "  against  the  Higher 
Criticism  since  the  days  of  Eichhorn,  its  father — but 
they  have  long  since  been  silenced  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe ;  they  speak  with  timidity  in  Great  Britain.  It 
is  only  in  ultra-conservative  America  that  they  still  go 
on  battling  for  traditional  theories  and  clamoring 
against  the  truth  of  God.f  Any  one  can  see  that  four 
gospels  are  better  than  one  ;  four  narratives  of  the  story 
of  the  founding  of  the  Old  Covenant  are  also  better 
than  one.  Even  if  we  have  to  give  up  the  Mosaic  au- 
thorship of  the  Pentateuch,  we  gain  four  writers  in  the 
place  of  Moses ;  and  the  history  of  Moses  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  his  covenant,  gains  vastly  in  strength  by  the 
testimony  of  four  witnesses  instead  of  one. 

In  the  history  of  the  kingdom  from  its  establishment 
to  the  exile,  we  have  two  parallel  narratives  in  the  books 
of  Samuel  and  Kings  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Chroni- 
cler on  the  other  ;  but  Higher  Criticism  finds  in  the 
narratives  of  Samuel  and  Kings  three  original  writers, 
similar  to  three  of  the  writers  of  the  Hexateuch. 

These  four  kinds  of  writers  of  Biblical  History  that 
we  find  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  well  as  in  the  New, 
are  not  without  significance,  for  they  correspond  with 
four  types  that  run  through  the  entire  literature  of  the 
Bible.  James,  Peter,  Paul,  and  John  represent  four  dif- 
ferent points  of  view  in  the  New  Testament  epistles. 
Each  of  these  types  has  its  corresponding  gospel.  In 
the  Old  Testament  we  distinguish  the  writers  of  the 
wisdom  literature  from  the  writers  of  the  lyric  poetry, 


See  Appendix  II.  f  See  Appendix  III. 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  15 

and  both  of  these  from  the  prophetic  and  the  priestly- 
writers.  Are  not  these  the  same  types  that  we  find  ia 
the  New  Testament,  and  ought  we  not  to  expect  to  find 
these  same  types,  that  are  in  the  New  Testament,  repre- 
sented in  the  older  histories  ?  These  are  not  fanciful 
combinations  of  theorists  and  speculators,  but  are  the 
interesting  product  of  the  scientific  study  of  the  Bible 
itself.  When  we  compare  these  four  types  of  Biblical 
writers  with  the  results  of  the  scientific  study  of  other 
religions  and  races,  we  find  that  they  correspond  with 
the  four  great  temperaments  of  mankind,  and  the  four 
great  types  of  character  that  reappear  throughout  human 
history. 

It  is  one  of  the  wonderful  results  of  the  Higher  Criti- 
cism of  the  Bible  that  all  the  important  events  and 
doctrines  rest  upon  a  fourfold  foundation,  and  a  compre- 
hension of  the  four  great  ways  of  looking  at  things  that 
are  possible  to  the  human  mind.  There  is  danger  in 
our  study  of  the  Bible  on  this  very  account.  Few  minds 
are  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  grasp  the  entire  repre- 
sentation of  these  Biblical  writers.  Each  man  will  natu- 
rally look  at  any  subject  through  the  eyes  and  the  rep- 
resentations of  the  author  of  kindred  temperament  and 
type.  The  analysis  of  the  Hexateuch  has  brought  to 
light  a  large  number  of  apparent  inconsistencies.  This 
was  what  ought  to  have  been  expected.  They  are  no 
more,  however,  than  those  that  still  trouble  scholars  in 
the  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  after  all  these  centuries  of 
study.  On  the  other  hand,  many  old  difficulties  have 
been  removed.  Many  statements  that  were  inconsist- 
ent and  even  contradictory  in  the  same  author,  are  com- 
plementary and  supplementary  in  different  authors  ;  and 
so  we  gain  a  higher  unity  of  representations,  which  is  all 
the   grander  for   the  fourfold  variety  out  of   which   it 


16  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

springs.  The  history  has  not  the  unity  of  a  straight  line, 
a  series  of  points,  but  the  unity  of  a  cube — the  unity 
such  as  we  see  in  the  cubical  structure  of  the  Holy  of 
Holies  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  temple.  The  new  Jeru- 
salem of  the  Apocalypse  is  four-square.  The  army  of 
the  living  God  marches  in  four  solid  divisions.  The 
cherubic  chariot  of  its  King  faces  the  four  quarters  of  the 
earth.  The  four  cherubic  faces  represent  not  only  the 
four  gospels,  but  also  the  four  types  that  are  in  the 
epistles  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  histories  and 
writings  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Biblical  History  has  certain  features  that  distinguish 
it  from  all  other  history.  The  most  important  of  these 
is  the  theophanic  presence  of  God. 

There  are  some  who  would  point  to  miracles  and 
prophecy  as  the  great  supernatural  features  of  the  Bible, 
that  prove  its  uniqueness  and  its  divine  origin.  But  any 
intelligent  person  will  admit  that  it  is  just  these  super- 
natural features  of  miracles  and  prophecies  that,  in  our 
day,  constitute  the  chief  obstacles  to  faith  in  the  Bible 
for  scientific  and  literary  scholars.  Biblical  History  is 
not  unique  in  this  regard.  The  ancient  histories  of  other 
nations  claim  miracles  and  divine  prophecy  for  the  lead- 
ers of  their  religion.  The  scientific  historian  is  tempted 
to  treat  the  miracles  and  prophecies  of  Biblical  History 
in  the  same  way  in  which  he  treats  them  in  the  history 
of  Egypt,  Assyria,  Greece,  and  the  Roman  Church.  He 
is  bound  so  to  do,  unless  something  of  a  distinguishing 
character  is  found  in  these  supernatural  features  of  the 
Bible.  It  also  is  noteworthy  that  Moses  and  Jesus  rec- 
ognize the  supernatural  in  miracle-working  and  prophecy 
beyond  the  range  of  prophetic-working  and  outside  the 
kingdom  of  God.  There  must  be  something  in  the 
character  of  the  supernatural  in  Biblical  History  that 


BIBLICAL  HISrORY.  ]^Y 

will  vindicate  its  reality  and  power,  or  it  cannot  be 
saved  from  the  tomb  into  which  modern  Historical 
Criticism  has  cast  the  supernatural  in  all  other  history. 

It  has  long  been  clear  to  me  that  the  Bible  does  not 
magnify  the  supernatural  in  miracle-working  and  proph- 
ecy to  the  same  extent  as  is  common  in  modern 
treatises  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity  and  Apolo- 
getics. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  undue  stress  upon  these  things 
has  called  attention  away  from  still  more  important  fea- 
tures in  Biblical  History.  The  miracles  of  Biblical  His- 
tory were  not  wrought  in  order  to  give  modern  divines 
evidences  of  the  truth  and  reality  of  the  Biblical  re- 
ligion. The  prophets  did  not  aim  to  give  apologists 
proofs  for  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  The  miracles 
were  wrought  as  acts  of  divine  judgment  and  redemp- 
tion. Prophecy  was  given  to  instruct  men  in  the  religion 
of  God,  in  order  to  their  salvation  and  moral  growth. 
The  miracles  were  not  designed  to  show  that  God  was 
able  to  violate  the  laws  of  nature,  to  overrule  or  suspend 
them  at  His  will.  The  miracles  of  the  Bible  rather  show 
that  God  Himself  was  present  in  Nature,  directing  His 
own  laws  in  deeds  of  redemption,  and  of  judgment. 
The  miracles  are  divine  acts  in  nature.  Prophecy  was 
not  designed  to  show  that  God  can  overrule  the  laws  of 
the  human  mind,  suspend  them,  or  act  instead  of  them, 
using  man  as  a  mere  speaking-tube  to  convey  heavenly 
messages  to  this  world.  Prophecy  rather  discloses  the 
presence  of  God  in  man,  stimulating  him  to  use  all  the 
powers  of  his  intellectual  and  moral  nature  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  people  of  God.  Miracles  and  prophecy  in 
Biblical  History  are  the  signs  of  the  presence  of  God  in 
that  History.  He  has  not  left  that  History  to  itself.  He 
has  not  lett  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  mind  to  theif 


18  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

ordinary  development,  but  He  has  taken  His  place  at 
the  head  of  affairs  as  the  monarch  of  nature  and  the  king 
of  men  to  give  His  personal  presence  and  superintendence 
to  a  history  which  is  central  and  dominant  of  the  history 
of  the  world. 

Now  this  is  the  conception  of  the  supernatural,  that 
we  find  in  Biblical  History.  Miracles  were  chiefly  at  the 
Exodus  from  Egypt,  and  the  entrance  into  Palestine. 
Here  they  are  associated  with  the  theophanic  presence 
of  God.  They  reappear  in  the  age  of  Elijah  and  Elisha, 
a  period  marked  by  theophanies.  Then  again  they  were 
wrought  by  Jesus,  the  God-man,  and  by  His  apostles,  in 
connection  with  theophanies  of  the  divine  Spirit.  The 
Theophany,  the  Christophany,  and  the  Pneumatophany 
are  the  sources  of  the  miracles  of  the  Bible.  When  God 
is  really  present  in  Nature,  in  the  forms  of  time  and 
space  and  circumstance,  then  miracles  are  the  most  natu- 
ral things  in  the  world.* 

The  Prophecy  of  the  Old  Testament  also  springs 
from  theophanies.  The  great  master-spirits  of  prophecy 
were  called  by  theophanies.  The  apostles  were  com- 
missioned by  Christophanies  and  Pneumatophanies.  God 
entered  into  the  human  mind,  into  its  perception,  con- 
ception, and  imagination,  and  guided  these  to  give  utter- 
ance to  the  wonderful  things  of  God.f  I  do  not  presume 
to  say  that  every  miracle  and  every  prophetic  discourse 
may  be  traced  directly  to  theophanic  influence,  yet  I  do 
venture  to  say  that  the  most  of  them  can  be  traced  to 
such  origination,  and  that  the  others  may  likewise  be  re- 
ferred to  a  more  secret  divine  presence  jn  nature  and  in 
man,  even  if  that  presence  was  not  always  disclosed  in 
some  external  manner. 


*  See  Appendix  IV.  t  See  Appendix  V. 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  19 

It  is  necessary,  however,  to  go  much  farther,  in  order 
to  realize  the  importance  of  the  theophany  in  Biblical 
History.  It  is  the  representation  of  the  Patriarchal 
History  that  God  was  constantly  manifesting  Himself 
to  the  antediluvians  and  patriarchs  in  various  theophanic 
forms,  to  guide  them  in  all  the  important  affairs  of  their 
lives.  The  four  narratives  of  the  Exodus  tell  us  that 
God  assumed  the  form  of  an  angel  and  then  of  a  pillar 
of  cloud  and  fire,  and  remained  with  His  people  in  a  per- 
manent form  of  theophany  from  the  Exodus  from  Egypt 
until  the  entrance  in  the  Holy  Land.  God's  theophanic 
presence  remained  with  His  people  until  the  exile.  The 
ark  vi^as  His  throne,  the  tabernacle  His  abode,  the  tem- 
ple His  palace.  The  sacred  writers  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment knew  that  God  was  reigning  in  Jerusalem  as  the 
real  King  of  Israel  and  the  nations,  by  personal  theo- 
phanic presence. 

The  theophanic  presence  was  withdrawn  from  the  na- 
tion during  the  exile  and  only  granted  to  a  few  proph- 
ets ;  but  on  the  return  to  Canaan,  God  again  appeared 
in  wondrous  theophanies.  These  are  not  recorded  in 
the  cold,  dry  narrative  of  the  chronicler,  but  they  appear 
in  the  psalms  and  prophets  of  the  period.  The  theo- 
phanic presence  of  God  was  not  granted  to  the  second 
temple.  God  withdrew  Himself  from  His  people  for 
several  centuries  in  order  to  prepare  mankind  for  the 
grandest  of  all  theophanies — the  Incarnation  of  the  Son 
of  God.  The  Incarnation  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
an  abiding  presence  of  God,  no  longer  in  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  but  in  familiar  intercourse  with  men  until  His 
death  on  the  cross  and  ascension  to  the  heavenly 
throne.  Then  a  few  days  of  divine  absence,  and  the 
theophany  of  the  divine  Spirit  came  at  Pentecost. 

Pneumatophany  and  Christophany  now  abound  in  the 


20 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 


period  of  planting  the  Church  in  the  world.  The  last  is 
the  wonderful  one  in  Patmos.  And  here  Biblical  His- 
tory comes  to  an  end,  with  a  prophetic  picture  of  the 
final  scenes  of  all  history.  From  this  survey,  it  is  clear 
that  the  most  distinguishing  feature  of  Biblical  History 
is  the  theophanic  presence  of  God.  The  narratives  of  the 
Biblical  writers  treat  of  the  times  of  that  presence. 
When  the  theophany  is  absent,  the  Biblical  narrative  is 
absent  also.  When  the  theophany  is  absent,  the  Bibli- 
cal historian  sees  nothing  to  narrate ;  his  Lord  is  not 
there.  History  is  to  him  a  blank.  When  the  theoph- 
any is  withdrawn  and  the  enthroned  Saviour  governs 
His  kingdom  without  theophanic  manifestations.  Bibli- 
cal History  passes  over  into  Church  History.  From 
this  point  of  view.  Biblical  History  is  the  History  of  the 
theophanic  presence  of  God  in  His  kingdom  of  grace. 

This  central  feature  of  Biblical  History  determines  all 
others. 

The  theocratic  historian  begins  his  narrative  with  the 
story  of  theophanic  manifestations  to  the  patriarchs, 
taking  a  special  interest  in  Israel,  the  father  of  the  na- 
tion. This  writer  is  graphic,  plastic,  and  realistic.  God 
appears  in  dreams  :  He  comes  in  forms  of  man  and  angel. 
He  lets  Himself  be  seen  and  touched.  He  even  conde- 
scends to  wrestle  with  Jacob.  He  appears  to  Moses  in 
the  burning  bush  as  the  angel  of  the  presence.  He 
assumes  human  form  and  lets  Moses  see  Him  and  com- 
mune with  Him  in  His  tent.  He  manifests  Himself  to 
the  elders  of  Israel,  enthroned  on  a  glorious  throne,  and 
lets  them  eat  the  covenant  sacrifice  in  His  presence. 
God  is  to  this  narrator  ever  present  to  guide  the  nation 
as  their  King. 

"  Thy  right  hand,  Jahveh,  is  glorious  in  power. 
Thy  right  hand,  Jahveh,  dasheth  in  pieces  the  enemy. 


•    BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  21 

Thou  sendest  forth  thy  wrath,  it  consumeth  them  as  stubble, 
And  with  the  blast  of  thy  nostrils  the  waters  were  piled  up, 
The  floods  stood  upright  as  an  heap, 
The  deeps  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 
Thou,  in  thy  mercy,  hast  led  the  people  which  thou  dost  re- 
deem, 
Thou  hast  guided  them  in  thy  strength  to  thy  holy  habitation. 
Jahveh  reigns  forever  and  ever."     (Ex.  xv.  6-19). 

The  same  spirit  guides  the  theocratic  narrator  vi^ho 
tells  the  story  of  the  later  history.  He  is  very  zealous 
for  his  own  God,  and  scorns  the  gods  of  the  nations. 
Elijah  condenses  this  feeling  in  his  bitter  irony  to  the 
prophets  of  Baal : 

"  Cry  aloud  :  for  he  is  a  god ;  either  he  is  musing  or  he  is  gone 
aside,  or  he  is  on  a  journey,  or  peradventure  he  sleepeth  and 
must  be  awaked."    (i  Kings  xviii.  27). 

The  calm,  serene  confidence  of  the  prophet  is  justified 
by  the  theophanic  interposition  and  the  cry  of  the  peo- 
ple: 
"Jahveh,  He  is  God !  Jahveh,  He  is  God  !"    (i  Kings  xviii.  39). 

The  gospel  of  Mark  writes  in  a  similar  spirit  in  the 
New  Testament.  .  Mark  has  no  interest  in  introductory 
matters  or  even  results.  He  is  absorbed  in  the  Christ 
of  history,  in  His  life  and  deeds.  His  plastic  style  gives 
us  Jesus  as  He  manifested  Himself.  He  tells  his  story 
in  such  a  realistic  and  powerful  manner  that  we  bow  be- 
fore the  Christ  as  the  King  of  nature  and  of  men,  with- 
out waiting  for  solicitation  or  argument. 

Other  histories  give  us  evidences  of  the  presence  and 
power  of  God.  Mythological  conceptions  lie  at  the  ba- 
sis of  the  histories  of  other  ancient  nations.  There  the 
gods  descend  to  earth  and  clothe  themselves  in  forms  of 
nature  and  man  ;  but  they  thereby  assume  the  parts  and 
passions  of  man  and  share  in  all  his  weaknesses,  sins,  and 


22  BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  • 

corruptions ;  or  they  become  merely  forces  and  forms  of 
physical  nature.  But  the  theophanies  of  these  Biblical 
historians  never  confound  God  with  man,  with  angels, 
or  with  nature;  and  the  form  assumed  is  merely  for 
manifestation  to  holy  men  ;  and  it  is  a  thin  veil  through 
which  as  much  of  the  glory  of  deity  shines  as  the  holy 
man  or  prophet  was  able  to  bear.  And  whereas  these 
mythological  conceptions  are  only  at  the  mythical  roots 
of  other  ancient  Histories ;  the  theophanies  pervade  and 
control  Biblical  History  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 
There  is  no  other  history  in  which  God  is  manifest  in 
such  a  simple,  natural,  and  yet  kingly  way,  where  men 
see  Him,  know  Him,  and  obey  Him  as  their  own  Prince 
and  King. 

The  prophetic  historian  begins  his  story  with  an  epic 
poem,  disclosing,  on  the  one  side,  the  origin  and  devel- 
opment of  human  sin  and  the  divine  wrath,  and  on  the 
other  the  grace  of  God  in  the  progress  of  redemption. 
The  great  theme  of  his  history  is  redemption  from  sin. 
He  and  other  Biblical  historians  of  the  same  type,  give 
us  the  developmejtt  of  the  Kingdom  of  Redemption.  The 
great  Hebrew  epic  that  constitutes  the  preface  of  this 
history  is  the  most  wonderful  of  stories."^  The  history 
of  mankind  begins  with  Adam,  sculptured  by  the  hands 
of  God  and  quickened  by  the  breath  of  God.  He  is 
placed  in  a  paradise  planted  by  the  hands  of  God,  and 
has  charge  of  animals  formed,  like  himself,  by  the  hands 
of  God.  He  receives  his  wife  from  the  hands  of  God, 
built  out  of  a  portion  of  his  own  body.  He  is  trained 
in  conception  and  speech  by  the  voice  of  God.  All 
things  in  him  and  about  him  exhibit  the  marks  of  God's 
personal  presence  and  contact ;  and  yet  Adam  sinned 


See  Appendix  VI. 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  23 

against  his  creator  and  benefactor,  and  brought  an  entail 
of  woe  upon  our  race.  The  epic  describes,  in  a  series  of 
pictures,  the  successive  catastrophes  of  mankind,  the 
Fall,  the  Fratricide,  the  Deluge,  and  the  Dispersion, 
events  that  lie  at  the  foundations  of  human  history. 
Faint  reflections  of  these  events  are  found  in  the  legends 
and  myths  of  other  ancient  nations,  but  nowhere  do  we 
see  such  a  beautiful,  simple,  touching,  and  profound 
story.  It  is  an  artist's  masterpiece,  whether  we  regard 
it  as  prose  or  poetry,  whether  it  be  legend  or  narrative. 
I  think  that  it  is  poetry  in  form  as  well  as  substance — 
an  epic  poem  of  the  highest  order.  Here  the  imagina- 
tion and  fancy  are  supreme,  and  yet  there  is  nothing  of 
those  grotesque  mythological  forms,  and  those  extrava- 
gant legendary  scenes  that  constitute  the  staple  of  all 
efforts  to  depict  the  origin  of  things  among  other  an- 
cient nations.  The  poem  is  so  simple,  so  chaste,  so  real- 
istic, so  artless,  that  it  has  been  mistaken  by  most  stu- 
dents for  prose.  Such  poetry  must  have  been  inspired 
by  a  divine  art ;  such  imagination  and  fancy  must  have 
been  inflamed  and  at  the  same  time  tempered  and  sub- 
dued by  a  divine  breath. 

The  poem  describes  the  origin  and  development  of 
sin  in  the  family  of  Adam,  in  the  descendants  of  Cain, 
in  the  human  race,  in  the  family  of  Noah,  in  the  build- 
ers of  Babel.  The  wrath  of  God  comes  upon  sin  in 
several  catastrophes  of  judgment.  But  redemption  is 
never  absent.  The  promise  to  the  woman's  seed  opens 
up  the  path  of  Messianic  prophecy,  which  the  prophet 
traces  in  its  stages  of  divine  revelation,  so  that  human 
sin  is  overwhelmed  and  destroyed  in  the  progress  of 
redemption.  Sin  and  Redemption  are  the  master  words 
of  his  entire  history.  We  see  them  unfolding  in  the 
patriarchal   story,  in  the  exodus,  and  the  wanderings, 


24  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

and  the  conquest.  Jahveh,  the  personal  God  and  Sav- 
iour, is  ever  with  His  people  to  guide  and  to  bless. 
This  prophet  is  the  brightest  and  best  narrator  in  the 
Bible.  His  stories  never  tire  us,  for  they  ever  touch  the 
secret  springs  of  our  heart's  emotions. 

A  writer  of  a  similar  spirit  tells  the  story  of  David,  of 
his  sins  and  sorrows  and  restoration,  and  traces  the  his- 
tory of  the  kingdom  of  redemption  in  his  seed  until  the 
Exile. 

Matthew  is  an  evangelist  of  a  similar  spirit — the  favor- 
ite among  the  gospels.  He  is  the  evangelist  of  the  Mes- 
sianic promise,  of  the  kingdom  of  redemption,  and  of 
the  conflict  of  sin  and  grace. 

The  history  of  sin  and  of  redemption  in  these  Biblical 
historians  is  unique.  Sin,  indeed,  is  everywhere  in  the 
world.  Other  histories  cover  it  over.  These  histories 
expose  it.  And  yet  Israel  was  not  the  greatest  sinner 
among  the  nations.  If  his  sins  are  more  patent,  are 
more  in  the  light  of  history,  it  is  because  he  has  ever 
been  a  penitent  sinner.  Deceitful  Abraham,  crafty 
Jacob,  choleric  Moses,  wilful  Saul,  passionate  David, 
voluptuous  Solomon,  hasty  Peter,  doubting  Thomas, 
heresy-hunting  Paul — these  are  not  the  chief  of  sinners. 
Their  counterparts  are  to  be  found  in  all  ages  and  all 
over  the  world.  We  see  them  every  day  in  our  streets. 
They  are  not  distinguished  above  other  men  as  sinners  ; 
but  they  are  distinguished  as  repenting  sinners,  the  dis- 
coverers of  the  divine  forgiveness  of  sin,  the  banner- 
bearers  of  redemption,  the  trophies  of  divine  grace.  No 
other  history  but  Biblical  History  gives  us  such  a  history 
of  redemption,  an  unfolding  of  the  grace  of  God,  from  the 
first  promise  of  the  ancient  epic,  through  all  the  intricate 
variety  of  Messianic  prophecy  and  fulfilment,  until  we 
see  the  Redeemer  ascend  to  heaven,  the  son  of  woman, 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  25 

the  second  Adam,  the  serpent-bruiser,  victor  over  sin 
and  death,  to  reign  on  a  throne  of  grace  as  the  world's 
Redeemer. 

The  fifth  book  of  the  Hexateuch  is  called  Deuteron- 
omy, on  the  ancient  theory  that  it  was  a  repetition  of 
the  law.  Its  legislation  is  represented  in  the  narratives 
of  the  book  of  Kings,  rather,  as  the  Instruction  or  the 
Covenant.  This  legislation  is  embedded  in  narratives 
that  assume  the  oratorical  form.  They  have  a  character 
of  their  own ;  they  are  of  a  distinct  type  from  the  nar- 
ratives thus  far  considered.  The  same  writer  is  chiefly 
responsible  for  the  history  of  the  Conquest.  A  writer 
of  the  same  type  has  touched  up  the  history  of  the 
Kings.  This  writer  has  the  conception  of  the  Father- 
hood of  God,  and  from  this  point  of  view  he  estimates 
the  history  of  God's  people.  The  whole  history  is  a 
discipline,  a  training  of  the  child  Israel  by  his  father 
God.  The  love  of  the  Father  and  His  tender  compas- 
sion are  grandly  conceived,  and  the  sin  of  the  nation  is 
a  violation  of  the  parental  relation.  The  ideal  life  of 
God's  people  is  a  life  of  love  to  the  heavenly  Father. 
Man  shall  not  live  'by  bread  alone,  but  by  the  word  that 
issues  from  the  mouth  of  God.  The  divine  instruction, 
the  holy  guidance  is  what  the  child  needs  for  life, 
growth,  and  prosperity-  All  blessedness  is  summed  up 
in  loving  God  and  serving  Him  with  the  whole  heart. 
All  curses  will  come  upon  those  who  forsake  Him  and 
refuse  His  instruction  and  guidance.  God  is  Judge  as 
well  as  Father,  and  this  disciphne  is  to  end  in  an  ultimate 
judgment  that  will  award  the  blessings  and  curses  that 
have  been  earned.  The  Deuteronomist  judges  the  whole 
history  of  Israel  from  this  point  of  view,  and  regards  it 
as  determined  by  the  disciplining  love  of  God. 

The  Gospel  of  John  is  of  the  same  type,  in  the  New 


26  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

Testament.  It  is  the  gospel  of  light,  and  life,  and  love. 
The  love  of  God,  displayed  throughout  Biblical  History, 
reaches  its  climax  in  that  love  which  gave  the  only  be- 
gotten Son  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  The  life  that 
was  in  the  words  of  the  Old  Covenant  was  intensified  in 
the  words  of  Jesus,  which  are  spirit  and  life ;  it  entered 
the  world  and  dwelt  among  us  as  the  Incarnate  Word, 
the  Hght  of  the  world,  and  the  true  life  for  mankind. 
The  Biblical  History  is  thus  a  history  of  the  fatherly 
love  of  God.  We  shall  not  deny  that  other  histories 
display  the  love  of  God,  and  that  all  mankind  share  in 
the  heavenly  discipline.  But  it  was  left  for  the  Biblical 
histories  to  discern  that  love,  and  to  describe  it  as  the 
quickening  breath  of  History. 

The  priestly  historian  takes  the  most  comprehensive 
view  of  Biblical  History.  He  begins  with  an  ancient 
poem  describing  the  creation  of  the  world.  This  stately 
lyric,  in  six  pentameter  strophes,  paints  the  wondrous 
drama  of  the  six  days'  work  in  which  the  Sovereign  of 
the  universe,  by  word  of  command,  summons  His  host 
into  being,  and  out  of  primitive  chaos  organizes  a  beau- 
tiful and  orderly  whole.  The  sovereignty  of  God  and 
the  supremacy  of  law  and  order  are  the  most  striking 
features  of  this  story  of  creation.* 

I  doubt  if  there  is  any  other  passage  of  the  Bible  that 
has  attracted  such  universal  attention  and  been  the  cen- 
tre of  such  world-wide  contest  from  the  earliest  times. 
Here  Biblical  History  comes  into  contact  with  Physical 
Science  in  all  its  sections,  with  Philosophy,  with  the  his- 
tory of  ancient  nations,  as  well  as  with  theology.  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  discuss  the  numberless  questions  that 
spring  into  our  minds  in  connection  with  the  first  chap- 
ter of  Genesis.     I  will  only  remark  that  if  one  takes  it 

*  See  Appendix  VII. 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  27 

as  a  lyric  poem,  and  interprets  it  in  the  same  way  as  we 
are  accustomed  to  interpret  the  psalms  of  creation  and  the 
poetic  descriptions  of  the  creation  in  Hebrew  Prophecy 
and  Hebrew  Wisdom,  the  most  of  the  difficulties  will 
pass  away ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the  contest  with  Sci- 
ence, Philosophy,  and  Archaeology  will  cease. 

It  is  plain  to  me  that  the  poem  does  not  teach  crea- 
tion out  of  nothing,  but  its  scope  is  to  describe  the 
bringing  of  beauty  and  order  and  organism  out  of  primi- 
tive chaos.  It  is  clear  to  me  that  the  poem  makes  the 
word  and  spirit  of  God  the  agents  of  creation,  and 
these  are  just  as  suitable  to  the  conception  of  develop- 
ment in  six  stages  as  to  the  conception  of  an  indefinite 
number  of  distinct  originations  out  of  nothing. 

I  am  not  troubled  with  the  order  of  creation,  for  the 
poet  is  giving  us  six  scenes  in  the  Act  of  Creation,  six 
pictures  of  the  general  order  of  the  development  of 
nature.  I  think  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  there 
was  a  wide  gap  between  these  pictures,  and  that  there 
is  no  overlapping.  When  God  said,  "  Let  light  come 
into  being,"  He  did  not  continue  saying  these  words  for 
twenty-four  hours,  or  a  century  or  more.  Divine  speech 
is  instantaneous.  The  effect  of  His  saying  may  go  on 
forever,  but  His  word  is  a  flash  of  light.  I  think  that 
God  did  no  more  speaking  on  the  second  day  than  on 
the  first,  no  more  on  the  sixth  than  on  the  third.  The 
poet  certainly  does  not  tell  us  that  God  spake  a  creative 
word  for  every  object  of  creation,  or  even  for  every 
species  or  genus.  He,  who  in  His  divine  conception  is 
above  the  limits  of  time  and  space  and  circumstance, 
who  grasps  in  one  conception  the  whole  frame  of  uni- 
versal nature,  with  one  word,  or  one  breath,  or  a  thought, 
might  have  called  the  universe  into  being.  The  poem 
of  the  Creation  conceives  God  as  speaking  six  creative 


28  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

words,  in  order  thus  to  paint  the  six  pictures  of  creation 
in  an  orderly  manner.  The  poet  does  not  propose  to 
comprehend  in  his  representation  all  the  forces  and 
forms  and  methods  of  the  work  of  God. 

Take  it  as  it  is,  it  is  a  lyric  poem  of  wonderful  power 
and  beauty.  Science  has  not  yet  reached  a  point  when  it 
can  tell  the  story  of  creation  so  well.  The  story  of 
creation  is  set  forth  in  the  legends  and  myths  of  many 
nations.  The  Babylonian  poem  gives  us  the  best  ethnic 
representation.  But  all  these  ethnic  conceptions  are 
discolored  by  mythological  fancies  and  grotesque  spec- 
ulations. Compared  with  the  best  of  them,  the  Biblical 
Poem  is  pure  and  simple  and  grand.  A  divine  touch  is 
in  its  sketchings.  A  divine  spirit  hovered  over  the  mind 
of  the  poet  to  bring  order  and  beauty  out  of  his  crude 
and  tossing  speculations,  no  less  than  He  did  over  the 
primitive  chaos  of  the  world  itself. 

The  priestly  historian  gives  another  ancient  Poem  of 
the  Deluge,  which  also  is  marked  by  the  same  general 
characteristics  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  and  the  suprem- 
acy of  law,  that  we  have  seen  in  the  poem  of  the  Crea- 
tion. He  connects  these  and  his  other  histories  by  a 
well-arranged  table  of  genealogies,  giving  us  the  line  of 
mankind  from  Adam  through  the  centuries  of  the  holy 
race.  He  conceives  of  God  as  a  holy  God,  and  of  man 
as  created  in  the  image  of  the  holy  God,  with  sovereignty 
over  the  earth.  It  is  sin  against  the  divine  majesty 
that  involves  the  catastrophe  of  the  deluge.  This  his- 
torian traces  the  history  of  Israel  in  a  series  of  divine 
covenants  with  Noah,  Abraham,  Jacob,  and  Moses. 
These  involve  the  government  of  God  and  the  service 
of  a  holy  people.  The  constitution  of  a  holy  law  and 
holy  institutions  is  his  highest  delight.  God's  people 
must  be  a  holy  people,  as  God  their  Lord  is  holy,  and 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  29 

all  their  approaches  to  Him  must  be  in  well-ordered 
forms  of  sanctity.  The  entire  history  of  the  Exodus  and 
the  conquest  is  conceived  from  this  point  of  view. 

The  chronicler  is  an  author  of  kindred  spirit.  He 
describes  the  history  of  the  kingdom  until  the  exile, 
and  judges  of  it  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  holy  law 
of  God.  He  also  gives  us  an  account  of  the  Restoration 
and  establishment  of  the  holy  people  in  the  holy  land, 
under  the  priestly  rule  and  the  holy  law.  And  here  he 
brings  his  history  to  an  end. 

A  writer  of  similar  spirit  in  the  New  Testament  is 
Luke.  He  also  begins  his  genealogy  with  Adam.  He 
also  gives  a  later  unfolding  of  the  history  in  the  story 
of  the  planting  of  Christianity  among  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles. He  also  has  a  profound  sense  of  the  sovereignty 
of  God,  the  work  of  the  divine  Spirit,  and  the  ideal  of 
holiness. 

When  now  we  compare  these  Biblical  historians  with 
other  ancient  historians,  we  observe  that  the  Egyptians 
come  nearest  to  the  Hebrews  in  their  conception  of 
sanctity,  but  the  Hebrev/s  transcend  them  in  making 
holiness  the  norm  of  History.  The  ideal  of  the  image 
of  the  Holy  God  in  man,  is  the  ideal  that  these  Biblical 
writers  held  in  mind,  as  the  goal  of  history.  Whence 
could  they  have  derived  this  ideal  if  not  from  the  mind 
of  God? 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  enter  into  any  details  in  expo- 
sition of  the  History  contained  in  the  Bible.  It  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  the  History  is  determined  in  its  divis- 
ions by  its  great  principles.  The  History  is  divided  into 
two  parts,  not  only  by  the  blank  of  several  hundred  years 
that  separates  the  Old  Testament  History  from  the  New 
Testament ;  but  still  more,  by  the  fact  that  the  history 
of  the  Old  Testament  is  guided  by  Theophanies,  the  his- 


30  BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

tory  of  the  New  Testament  by  Christophanies,  and  it  is 
just  the  unfolding  of  these  Theophanies  and  Christoph- 
anies that  marks  the  subordinate  periods. 

You  have  doubtless  noted  that  I  have  had  nothing  to 
say  about  inspiration,  and  that  I  have  taken  little  ac- 
count of  some  things  that  are  usually  magnified  by  those 
who  are  over-anxious  about  the  evidences  of  our  religion, 
and  seem  to  consider  a  system  of  Apologetics  the  chief 
end  of  the  Bible  and  Theology.  I  have  called  your  at- 
tention to  other  things  that  seem  to  me  of  much  greater 
importance.  I  have  shown  you  the  great  principles  of 
Biblical  History  as  they  appear  in  the  Biblical  his- 
torians. We  have  seen  that  the  Presence  of  God  in  na- 
ture and  man  is  the  greatest  feature  of  Biblical  History, 
and  that  this  presence  is  sometimes  conceived  as  a  royal 
personal  presence,  as  friend  and  guide,  sometimes  as  the 
Saviour  guiding  the  history  of  redemption,  sometimes 
as  the  Father  disciplining  His  people  in  love,  and  some 
times  as  a  holy  God  governing  His  people  with  a  holy 
law  in  view  of  an  ideal  of  holiness.  These  principles 
are  the  dominant  principles  of  Biblical  History.  These 
attributes  of  Biblical  History  distinguish  it  from  all  other 
History.  The  Biblical  writers  have  a  divine  way  of 
historical  composition.  They  bring  God  near  to  us, 
encompass  us  with  heavenly  influence,  and  make  us 
sensible  of  the  touch  of  God.  If  this  is  not  Inspiration 
it  is  fully  as  good  as  Inspiration.  It  is  better  than  many 
conceptions  of  Inspiration.  It  assures  us  that  the  books 
are  books  of  God,  the  words  of  life  and  redemption.  If 
such  features  and  attributes  do  not  convince  men  of  the 
divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  I  doubt  whether  you 
can  convince  them  in  any  other  way.* 


*  See  Appendix  VIII. 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY.  31 

Biblical  History  lies  in  the  midst  of  Ancient  History 
as  its  centre  of  light  and  life.  Biblical  History  lies  at 
the  basis  of  Church  History  as  its  root  and  spring.  Once 
a  grain  of  mustard-seed  in  Palestine,  the  people  of  God 
have  produced  a  wondrous  plant  in  Christendom. 
Planted  as  a  cedar  twig  on  the  mountains  of  Israel,  they 
have  become  a  giant  of  Lebanon,  overshadowing  the 
earth  (Matth.  xiii.  31,  32;  Ezek.  xvii.  22-24).  A  long 
blank  of  eighteen  centuries  lies  between  us  and  the  His- 
tory recorded  in  the  Bible,  and  yet  that  History  still  re- 
mains a  well-spring  of  life  to  mankind.  A  blank  of  sev- 
eral centuries  separated  the  Old  Testament  theophanies 
from  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  They  were  cen- 
turies of  preparation  for  the  first  Advent.  So  these  eight- 
een centuries  of  Christianity  are  centuries  of  preparation 
for  the  second  advent  of  Jesus  Christ ;  an  advent  that  will 
transcend  all  theophanies,  and  be  the  culmination  of  all 
Christophanies.  For  this,  Millenniums  of  preparation 
may  well  be  necessary.  But  then  we  may  anticipate 
that  Biblical  History  will  once  more  be  told  by  holy 
men  of  God,  who  will  be  stirred  to  narrate  those  trans- 
cendent events  in  which  the  kingdom  of  grace  will  reach 
its  fruition.  Themes  worthy  of  holy  penmen  will  again 
appear,  when  Prophecy  shall  be  transformed  into  His- 
tory in  the  Advent  of  our  Lord.  Sacred  historians 
will  tell  the  story  for  eternity,  of  that  last  combat  with 
evil,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  day  of  doom,  the 
New  Jerusalem,  the  New  Heaven  and  the  New  Earth, 
and  the  Messiah's  presentation  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
redeemed  in  all  its  sanctity  and  glory,  as  His  own  best 
gift  of  love  to  the  Father. 


APPENDIX. 


THE  PLACE  OF  BIBLICAL  HISTORY  IN  THEOLOGICAL  ENCYCLO- 
PEDIA. 

Hagenbach  *  treats  Biblical  History  as  a  section  of  Histori- 
cal Theology,  dividing  it  into  the  History  of  the  People  of  Is- 
rael, the  Contemporary  History  of  the  New  Testament,  the  Life 
of  Jesus,  and  the  Life  of  the  Apostles  and  Founding  of  the 
Church.  He  regards  Biblical  History  as  the  transition  from 
Exegetical  to  Historical  Theology.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
makes  Biblical  Archaeology,  including  Biblical  Geography  and 
Natural  History,  a  section  of  Exegetical  Theology.t  This  dis- 
tribution of  the  material  seems  to  be  unfortunate  and  without 
sufficient  reasons.  The  line  separating  Exegetical  Theology 
from  Historical  Theology  is  not  a  line  that  divides  between  His- 
tory and  Exegesis.  On  this  theory  Exegetical  Theology  has  to 
do  with  the  exegesis  of  the  sources  of  Biblical  History  and  The- 
ology ;  the  results  of  that  exegesis  in  History  and  Theology  go- 
ing to  the  Historical  department.  To  carry  out  such  a  distinc- 
tion, we  would  have  to  distinguish  between  the  exegesis  of  the 
sources  of  Church  History  and  Church  History  itself.  Christian 
Archaeology,  Patristics,  Diplomatics,  and  the  like  would  come 
under  the  head  of  Exegetical  Theology.  Exegetical  Theology 
is  really  a  section  of  Historical  Theology,  as  most  recent  writers 
on  Encyclopaedia  have  shown.     The  chief  reasons  for  making 


*  Encyklop'ddie,  nth  Aufl.,  1884,  p.  219,  seq.  -f  /.  c,  p.  149,  seq. 

(32) 


APPENDIX.  33 

Exegetical  Theology  a  separate  division  are :  (i)  its  essential 
material  is  derived  from  divine  revelation ;  and  (2)  the  depart- 
ment is  so  vast  that  it  demands  separate  treatment.  A  more 
logical  division  would  be  to  take  Historical  Theology  as  a  gen- 
eral term,  embracing  (i)  Exegetical  Theology — the  Theology  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments ;  (2)  Ethnic  Theology — the  The- 
ology of  the  other  religions  of  the  world  ;  and  (3)  Christian  The- 
ology— the  Historical  Theology  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Principal  Cave  *  has  recently  made  a  similar  arrangement  of 
material,  only  making  six  divisions.  He  includes  Biblical  His- 
tory under  his  third  division,  which  he  terms  Biblical  Theology; 
and  Church  History  under  his  fourth  division,  which  he  names 
Ecclesiastical  Theology. 

Exegetical  Theology  should  include  Biblical  History,  Biblical 
Theology,  Biblical  Archaeolog)%  Biblical  Geography,  and  Biblical 
Chronology  as  well  as  Biblical  Exegesis  and  Biblical  Literature 
— ^just  as  Historical  Theology  should  include  Patristics,  Monu- 
mental Theology,  Diplomatics,  and  Christian  Epigraphy. 

Biblical  History  will  include  Archaeology,  Geography,  and 
Chronology.  It  is  limited,  however,  to  the  Biblical  sources,  and 
therefore  must  be  distinguished  from  the  History  of  Israel,  which 
is  a  part  of  Universal  History,  and  the  Contemporary  History, 
which  looks  at  the  Biblical  History  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  surrounding  nations. 

The  older  writers  on  Biblical  History  treated  it  in  a  devotional 
or  homiletical  interest.  In  more  recent  times  Biblical  History 
has  been  neglected,  while  scholars  have  devoted  themselves  to 
the  History  of  Israel  and  the  Contemporary  History. 


II. 

THE  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  HEXATEUCH, 

"  The  analysis  of  the  Pentateuch  into  four  distinct  narratives, 
with  their  distinct  codes  of  legislation,  is  the  result  of  a  century 
of  study  by  the  most  famous  critics  of  the  age.     There  are  slight 


*  An  Introduction  to  Theology,  Ed  in.,  T.  &  T.  Clark;    N.  Y.,  Scribner, 
WeHord  &  Co. 


34  APPENDIX. 

differences  of  opinion  in  the  analysis  at  some  points,  but  these 
are  chiefly  at  the  seams  which  bind  the  narratives  together,  and 
are  due  to  the  editor's  work,  who,  in  his  efforts  to  make  the  en- 
tire composition  as  harmonious  and  symmetrical  as  possible, 
sometimes  obscured  the  signs  of  difference.  But  the  concord  of 
critics  in  the  work  of  analysis  as  a  whole  is  wonderful,  in  view  of 
the  difficulties  that  beset  the  work  of  higher  criticism.  The  few 
objectors  among  Hebrew  scholars  display  their  own  unfamiliarity 
with  the  practical  work  of  criticism,  when  they  overlook  these 
solid  results  and  point  to  the  difficulties  as  evidences  that  the 
problem  has  not  been  solved.  The  differences  of  opinion  among 
practical  critics  and  the  difficulties  in  the  analysis  are  where  they 
ought  to  be  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case.  Instead  of  dis- 
proving the  work  of  criticism,  they  are,  therefore,  an  indirect 
evidence  of  its  correctness.  The  differences  and  diflSculties  dis- 
appear one  after  the  other  as  the  investigation  advances.  The 
evidences  for  the  analysis  into  four  narratives  are :  (i)  Differ- 
ences in  use  of  words  and  phrases ;  (2)  differences  in  style  and 
methods  of  composition;  (3)  differences  in  point  of  view  and 
representations  of  religious  institutions,  doctrines,  and  morals. 
We  have  given  this  latter  subject  a  thorough  investigation.  We 
have  by  careful  induction  gathered  the  theology  of  each  of  the 
documents  by  itself  and  then  compared  them,  and  have  found 
such  a  thorough-going  difference  that  it  is  simply  impossible 
that  they  should  have  come  from  the  same  original  author.  We 
hope  at  some  future  time  to  present  the  theology  of  the  Penta- 
teuch to  the  public.  In  the  meanwhile  we  refer  to  Dillmann, 
Genesis,  4th  Aufl.,  1882 ;  ^euss,  Gesch.  der  Heiligeji  Schriften,  A, 
T.  1 88 1  ;  Kuenen,  Hzst.  crit.  Onderzoek,  i.,  1885;  Wellhausen, 
Die  Composition  des  Hexateuchs,  in  his  Skizzen  u.  Vorarbeiten,  ii., 
1885;  also  my  'Critical  Study  of  the  History  of  the  Higher  Criti- 
cism,' Presbyterian  Review,  1883,  p.  69,  seq. 

"  Scholars  are  not  agreed  in  the  names  they  give  to  the  four 
documents.  The  priestly  narrator  is  the  Q.  of  Wellhausen,  the 
A.  or  first  Elohist  of  Dillmann.  The  prophetic  narrator  is  the 
Jahvist.  The  theocratic  narrator  is  the  second  Elohist.  The 
Deuteronomist  is  agreed  to  by  all."  (Extract  from  Briggs'  Messi^ 
anic  Prophecy,  pp.  67-68,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.) 


APPENDIX.  35 


III. 


eichhorn's  view  of  the  opponents  of  the  higher 
criticism. 

"  Eichhorn  separates  the  Elohistic  and  Jehovistic  documents  in 
Genesis  with  great  pains,  and  with  such  success  that  his  analysis 
has  been  the  basis  of  all  critical  investigation  since  his  day.  Its 
great  advantages  are  admirably  stated  : 

"  '  For  this  discovery  of  the  internal  condition  of  the  first  books 
of  Moses,  party  spirit  will,  perhaps,  for  a  pair  of  decennials,  snort 
at  the  Higher  Criticism,  instead  of  rewarding  it  with  the  full 
thanks  that  are  due  it,  for  (i),  the  credibility  of  the  book  gains 
by  such  a  use  of  more  ancient  documents ;  (2)  the  harmony  of 
the  two  narratives,  at  the  same  time  with  their  slight  deviations, 
proves  their  independence  and  mutual  reliability ;  (3)  interpre- 
ters will  be  relieved  of  difficulty  by  this  Higher  Criticism,  which 
separates  document  fro^ri  document ;  (4)  finally,  the  gain  of  Criti- 
cism is  also  great.  If  the  Higher  Criticism  has  now  for  the  first 
distinguished  author  from  author,  and  in  general  characterized 
each  according  to  his  own  ways,  diction,  favorite  expressions, 
and  other  peculiarities,  then  her  lower  sister,  who  busies  herself 
only  with  words  and  spies  out  false  readings,  has  rules  and  prin- 
ciples by  which  she  must  test  particular  readings.'  * 

"Eichhorn  carried  his  methods  of  higher  criticism  into  the 
entire  Old  Testament  with  the  hand  of  a  master,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  views  that  have  been  maintained  ever  since  with 
increasing  determination.  He  did  not  always  grasp  the  truth, 
He  sometimes  chased  shadows  and  framed  visionary  theories, 
both  in  relation  to  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  like  others 
who  have  preceded  him  and  followed  him.  He  could  not  trans- 
cend the  limits  of  his  age  and  adapt  himself  to  future  discov- 
eries. The  labors  of  a  large  number  of  scholars  and  the  work  of 
a  century  and  more  v/ere  still  needed,  as  Eichhorn  modestly  an- 
ticipated." (Extract  from  Briggs'  Biblical  Study,  3d  edition, 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  pp.  205,  206.) 


*  Eichhorn's  Einleitung  ins  Alt  Test.,  1780,  ii.,  p.  329. 


36  APPENDIX. 

The  analysis  of  the  Hexateuch  into  four  writings,  is  an  achieve- 
ment of  the  Higher  Criticism  that  has  won  the  consent  of  the 
vast  majority  of  professional  students  of  the  Old  Testament 
throughout  the  world.  I  doubt  whether  there  is  any  subject  of 
importance  in  which  professional  scholars  are  so  well  agreed. 
The  Biblical  scholarship  of  the  continent  of  Europe  may  be  said 
to  be  unanimous  on  this  subject.  The  Professors  of  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  and  Edinburgh  are  united  in  their  support  of  the 
four  documents.  There  is  not  an  Old  Testament  Professor  of 
standing  in  Great  Britain  who  takes  any  other  view,  except  the 
venerable  Principal  Douglas,  of  Glasgow.  The  majority  of  Old 
Testament  Professors  in  America  are  of  the  same  opinion.  The 
notable  exceptions  are :  Professors  W.  H.  Green,  Howard  Os- 
good, and  E.  C.  Bissell.  These  do  not  oppose  the  Higher  Criti- 
cism as  such.  No  Biblical  scholar  could  do  that„  They  differ 
from  other  critics  in  that  they  advocate  the  traditional  theory  of 
the  Pentateuch.  They  use  the  tools  of  criticism)  so  far  as  possi- 
ble,  as  apologists.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  they  will  long  be  able 
to  resist  the  Biblical  Scholarship  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  The 
Higher  Criticism  has  separated  the  four  documents.  There  is 
agreement  here.  The  discord  is  as  to  the  date  of  the  documents. 
I  am  not  prepared  to  take  a  definite  position  on  that  subject. 
So  far  as  the  contest  between  Professors  Green,  Osgood,  and  Bis- 
sell, and  the  critics  opposed  to  them,  is  concerned,  it  is  a  schol- 
arly contest  between  critics  who  adhere  to  the  traditional  theory, 
and  critics  who  have  abandoned  the  traditional  theory  for  the 
results  of  a  more  scientific  study  of  the  Scriptures.  The  only 
difficulty  in  the  situation  is  that  some  ministers  and  editors,  who 
are  not  critics  and  who  are  ignorant  of  the  history  and  terminology 
of  criticism,  endeavor  to  excite  the  public  mind  against  Higher 
Criticism  by  appeals  "o  prejudice  and  brutal  methods.  Our 
Saviour  represents  such  enemies  of  the  truth  as  hissing  serpents 
(Matth.  xxiii.  33) ;  Paul  writes  of  them  as  dogs  (Phil.  iii.  2).  It 
is  in  accordance  with  such  precedents  that  Eichhorn  uses  the 
term  snort.  This  term  has  been  regarded  by  Biblical  scholars 
for  a  century  as  a  graphic  description  of  a  kind  of  opposition 
they  have  had  to  contend  with. 


APPENDIX.  37 

IV. 

MIRACLES  AND   THEOPHANIES. 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  recent  criticisms  have  consider- 
ably weakened  the  evidences  from  miracles  and  predictive  proph- 
ecy. To  many  minds  it  would  be  easier  to  believe  in  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  and  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  if  there 
were  no  such  things  as  Miracles  and  Prediction  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures.  The  older  apologetic  made  too  much  of  the  external 
marvels  of  miracle-working,  and  sought  to  find  in  history  the 
fulfilment  of  the  minute  details  of  prediction.  But  it  has  been 
found  easier  to  prove  the  divinity  of  Christ  without  miracles. 
Belief  in  miracles  needs  to  be  sustained  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  necessary  to  prove  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  as  the 
product  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  before  we  can  advance  with 
profit  into  the  special  field  of  prediction.  Even  the  Scriptures 
themselves  recognize  miracle-working  and  prediction  in  false 
prophets,  and  teach  us  to  distinguish  the  true  miracle  and  the 
true  prediction  from  the  false  by  their  internal  character  and 
their  conformity  to  truth  and  fact.  Recent  criticisms  have 
brought  these  lines  of  evidences  into  better  accord  with  the 
representations  of  the  Bible  itself. 

"  The  Old  Testament  is  full  of  Theophanies  ;  and  in  the  New 
Testament  there  are  many  Christophanies  and  Pneumatophanies. 
These  manifestations  of  God  in  the  forms  of  space  and  time  and 
in  the  sphere  of  physical  nature,  are  of  vast  importance  in  the 
unfolding  of  divine  revelation.  These  are  the  centres  from  which 
miracles  and  prophecies  flow.  If  there  were  such  theophanies 
or  divine  manifestations  in  the  successive  stages  of  divine  revela- 
tion, then  we  should  expect  miracles  in  the  physical  world  and 
prophecy  in  the  world  of  man.  If  Jesus  Christ  is  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh,  then  prophecy  and  miracles  are  exactly  what  we 
should  expect  so  long  as  He  abode  in  this  world  in  the  flesh.  If 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  given  to  the  apostles  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, and  He  was  present  with  the  churches  of  the  apostles  in  the 
peculiar  manner  of  external  manifestations  of  pneumatophany 
such  as  are  described  in  the  New  Testament,  we  are  not  surprised 


38  APPENDIX. 

at  the  occurrence  of  miracle-working  and  prophecy  during  that 
period ;  and  it  seems  to  be  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world 
that,  when  these  divine  manifestations  ceased,  miracle-working 
and  prophecy  ceased  with  them.  If,  then,  on  the  one  side,  re- 
cent criticisms  have  weakened  the  independent  value  of  the  evi- 
dences from  miracles  and  prediction,  they  have,  on  the  other  side, 
given  something  vastly  better  in  their  place.  They  have  called 
the  attention  to  the  presence  of  God  with  His  people  in  external 
manifestations  of  theophany,  to  guide  the  advancing  stages  of 
the  history  of  redemption.  Here  is  the  citadel  of  our  religion, 
to  which  all  its  lines  of  evidence  converge,  the  centre  of  the  en- 
tire revelation  and  religion  from  which  prophecy  and  miracle- 
working  issue  in  all  their  variety  of  form.  The  evidences  from 
miracles  and  prophecy  gain  in  strength  when  they  are  placed  in 
their  true  relations  to  the  theophany  in  which  the  unity  of  the 
evidence  is  found."  (Extract  from  Briggs'  Whither  f  1889,  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons,  pp.  279-280.) 


V. 

PROPHECY  AND   THEOPHANY. 

"The  Hebrew  religion  is  a  religion  of  union  and  communion 
with  God,  a  living,  growing,  everlasting  religion.  The  Hebrew 
prophets  present  us  with  an  immortal  religion.  They  derive  it 
by  direct  communication  with  the  ever-living  God.  It  is  the 
theophanic  manifestation  of  God  in  the  forms  of  time  and  space 
and  sphere  of  physical  nature,  to  call  and  endow  the  master 
spirits  of  Hebrew  prophecy,  that  constitute  one  of  its  most  dis- 
tinctive features.  Hebrew  prophecy,  as  Hebrew  miracle-work- 
ing, springs  from  theophanies.  These  were  the  sources  of  every 
new  advance.  They  constitute  a  series  leading  on  to  the  incar- 
nation as  their  culmination.  They  were  the  divine  seals  to  the 
roll  of  Hebrew  prophecy,  sealing  every  new  page  with  an  object- 
ive divine  verification  and  authentication.  They  bind  the  proph- 
ets into  an  organic  whole.  They  come  in  the  great  crisis  of  the 
development  of  prophecy,  and  shed  their  glorious  light  over  the 
prophecies  that  precede  and  those  that  follow,   We  have  not  only 


APPENDIX.  39 

therefore  the  caUing  and  endowment  of  particular  prophets  by 
these  theophanies,  but  the  calling  and  endowment  of  prophetic 
chiefs  to  originate  and  perpetuate  a  succession  of  prophets  with 
an  organic  system  of  prophecy. 

"  We  do  not  find  these  theophanies  in  connection  with  every 
prophet,  but  only  with  the  greatest  prophets,  the  reformers  of 
their  age.  It  is  possible  that  other  prophets  were  also  called  by 
theophanies  which  they  have  not  described  to  us.  But  this  is 
improbable.  It  was,  indeed,  unnecessary.  Theophanies  are  to 
initiate  religious  movements  and  mark  the  stages  of  their  de- 
velopment, but  are  not  the  constant  feature  of  prophecy.  Ordi- 
narily Hebrew  prophecy  comes  from  prophets  who  have  the 
internal  subjective  assurance  of  the  truth  of  God  and  their  com- 
mission to  declare  it.  But  in  all  cases  of  objective,  as  well  as 
subjective  assurance,  the  prophet's  powers  are  taxed  to  the 
utmost  to  give  expression,  in  the  human  forms  of  his  own  nature 
and  surroundings,  to  the  divine  ideas  that  have  taken  possession 
of  him."  (Extract  from  Briggs'  Messianic  Prophecy,  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons,  pp.  20-21.) 


VI. 


THE    EPIC  OF  THE  FALL  OF  MAN. 

"  The  earlier  chapters  of  Genesis  contain  a  series  of  brief,  sim- 
ple, and  charming  stories  of  the  origin  and  early  history  of  man- 
kind, that  bear  the  traces  of  great  antiquity.  They  were  doubt- 
less handed  down  for  many  generations  as  unwritten  tradition 
ere  they  were  committed  to  writing  by  the  sacred  writers.  They 
passed  through  a  series  of  editions,  until  at  last  they  were  com- 
pacted in  that  unique  collection  of  inspired  Scripture  which  we 
call  the  book  of  Genesis.  The  literary  beauties  of  these  stories 
have  been  recognized  since  Herder,  by  those  who  have  studied 
the  Scriptures  with  their  aesthetic  taste.  Poetic  features  have 
been  noticed  by  a  number  of  scholars,  but,  so  far  as  we  know,  no 
one  has  previously  observed  that  they  are  a  series  of  real  poems. 
It  was  the  good  fortune  of  the  author  to  make  this  discovery. 
Annual  work  upon  these  passages  with  his  classes  led  him  grad- 
ually towards  it.    He  first  noted  a  number  of  striking  instances  of 


40  APPENDIX. 

parallelism  of  lines  here  and  there,  and  thus  detected  snatches  of 
poetry  in  several  passages.  These  continued  to  enlarge  from  year 
to  year,  until  he  was  constrained  to  ask  the  question,  how  much 
real  poetry  there  was  in  these  ancient  stories,  and  to  apply  the 
tests  of  poetic  composition  to  the  entire  series.  The  first  pas- 
sage to  disclose  itself  as  poetry  was  the  Elohistic  narrative  of  the 
creation.  This  proved  to  be  a  poem  of  six  strophes,  with  re- 
frains. The  lines  are  pentameters,  measured  by  five  beats  of  the 
word  accent,  with  the  caesura  dividing  the  lines  into  two  sec- 
tions  

"  All  the  characteristic  features  of  Hebrew  poetry  are  clearly 

manifested  in  the  poem This  led  us  to  examine  the  Elohistic 

narrative  of  the  flood,  and  it  proved  to  be  a  poem  of  the  same 
essential  structure  as  the  Elohistic  story  of  the  creation. 

"  We  next  examined  the  Jehovistic  narrative  of  the  temptation 
and  fall,  and  found  it  to  be  a  poem  of  an  entirely  different  struct- 
ure from  the  poems  of  the  Elohist.  The  lines  of  this  poem  are 
trimeters,  and  the  strophes  are  regularly  composed  of  fourteen 
lines  each.  We  then  examined  the  Jehovistic  story  of  the  flood, 
and  found  that  it  was  a  poem  of  the  same  structure  as  the  Jeho- 
vistic poem  of  the  fall.  The  stories  of  Cain  and  Abel,  and  the 
dispersion  of  the  nations  from  Babel,  resolved  themselves  into 
the  same  poetical  structure.  And  thus  it  has  become  manifest 
that  the  earlier  chapters  of  Genesis  are  a  series  of  real  poems, 
which  have  passed  through  the  hands  of  several  editors  in  the 
earlier  collections  of  the  Elohist  and  Jehovist,  until  at  last  they 
were  compacted  by  the  redactor  of  the  Hexateuch  into  their 
present  form. 

"  If  it  be  thought  surprising  that  the  poetical  structure  of  these 
poems  has  so  long  been  hidden  from  Hebrew  scholars,  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  mention  that  Bishop  Louth,  in  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  was  the  first  to  discover  and  to  unfold  the  essential 
principle  of  Hebrew  poetry,  namely,  the  parallelism  of  lines,  and 
to  show  that  the  prophecies  of  the  book  of  Isaiah  were  chiefly 
poetry.  From  time  to  time,  during  the  past  century,  a  large 
number  of  poetical  extracts  have  been  discovered  in  the  historical 
books,  as  well  as  in  the  prophetical  literature.  The  great  ma- 
jority of  scholars  have  studied  the  Old  Testament  in  the  interests 
of  dogma,  or  else  of  grammatical,  historical,  or  practical  exegesis. 
Very  few  have  studied  the  literary  features  of  the  Old   Testa- 


APPENDIX.  41 

ment.  The  structure  of  the  Hebrew  strophe  and  the  measure- 
ment of  the  lines  of  Hebrew  poetry  are  known  to  comparatively- 
few  Hebrew  scholars 

"  The  poem  of  the  Fall  of  Man  exhibits  the  several  features  of 
Hebrew  poetry. 

"  (i).  The  lines  show  all  the  various  features  of  parallelism 
that  are  found  in  other  Hebrew  poetry,  synonymous,  antitheti- 
cal, and  progressive,  and  the  several  varieties  of  these 

(See  Briggs'  Biblical  Study,  p.  264,  seq?^ 

"  (2).  The  lines  are  trimeters,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few 
broken  lines,  which  are  shortened  in  order  to  a  pause  in  the 
thought,  in  accordance  with  the  frequent  usage  of  all  Hebrew 
poetry  of  this  measurement.  The  trimeters  of  Hebrew  poetry 
are  composed  of  three  beats  of  the  word  accent.  The  Hebrew 
poet  has  the  power  of  combining  two  or  more  short  words  by  a 
makkeph  under  one  word  accent.  (See  Briggs'  Biblical  Study, 
p.  279,  seq^ 

"  (3).  The  poem  has  strophical  organization.  It  is  composed 
of  ten  strophes  of  fourteen  lines  each.  These  are  arranged  in 
two  groups.  The  first  group  is  composed  of  four  strophes,  ar- 
ranged on  the  principle  of  strophe  and  anti-strophe.  The  second 
is  composed  of  two  sets  of  three  strophes  each.  The  second  set 
is  balanced  against  the  first  set.  The  ten  strophes  are  equal  in 
the  number  of  the  lines.  There  are  fourteen  lines  to  each 
strophe.  These  strophes  are  always  divided  into  two  parts,  but 
there  is  a  considerable  variety  in  the  inter-relation  of  these 
parts 

"  (4).  There  are  a  considerable  number  of  archaic  words  which 
belong  to  the  language  of  Hebrew  poetry."  (Extract  from  article 
on  T/ie  Poem  of  the  Fall  of  Man,  in  the  Reformed  Quarterly 
Reriew,  April,  1886.     See  also  Briggs'  Messianic  Prophecy,  p.  74.) 


VII. 


THE  POEM  OF  THE   CREATION. 


"  The  first  chapter  of  the  Bible  gives  a  representation  of  the 
creation  of  the  world.     This  has  been  studied  for  ages  by  all 


42 


APPENDIX. 


classes  and  conditions  of  men.  It  has  been  justly  admired  for 
its  simplicity,  picturesqueness,  and  sublimity  of  style.  It  is  a 
masterpiece  of  literature  as  well  as  of  religious  conception.  In 
our  century  it  has  been  the  chief  battle-ground  between  science 
and  religion.  Theologians  have  sought  in  it  the  mysteries  of 
the  origin  of  the  universe,  and  the  order  and  time  of  the  work 
of  creation.  Men  of  science  have  sought  in  it  a  reflection  of  the 
facts  that  have  been  discovered  in  the  history  of  the  rocks  and 
the  stars.  The  strife  of  theologians  and  scientists  has  made  this 
chapter — which  is  one  of  the  most  precious  gems  of  Biblical 
literature — a  crux  mterpretwn,  that  is  a  means  of  torture  to  the 
Biblical  scholar  who  is  forced  to  reconcile  the  claims  of  dogma 
with  the  claims  of  science,  and  yet  maintain  his  integrity  as  an 
interpreter  of  Scripture. 

"  So  far  as  the  questions  between  science  and  dogma  are  con- 
cerned, the  candid  scholar  should  admit  that  the  contest  is  un- 
decided. The  interpreter  of  Scripture,  who  is  neither  a  scientist 
nor  a  dogmatist,  ought  to  see  in  this  first  chapter  of  Genesis  a 
magnificent  piece  of  literature,  the  grandest  representation  of 
the  most  important  of  all  events,  the  origin  of  the  world  and 
man,  which  these  combatants  are  doing  their  best  to  tear  in 
pieces  and  patch  together  in  their  dogmatic  theories  and  their 
scientific  conjectures.  The  chief  error  in  the  use  that  is  ordi- 
narily made  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  is  a  mistake  as  to  the 
point  of  view  and  scope  of  the  representation,  together  with  a 
neglect  of  its  literary  form.  It  has  been  generally  held  that  the 
author  designs  to  give  us  the  doctrine  of  the  creation  of  the  uni- 
verse in  a  simple  prose  narrative,  stating  the  creations  as  they 
occurred  day  after  day  in  their  orderly  succession  until  the  whole 
universe  was  completed  with  all  its  contents  in  six  days.  Science 
has  determined  the  great  outlines  of  the  history  of  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  in  the  study  of  the  stars  and  the  rocks  and  the 
forces  of  nature.  The  problem  has  been  to  compare  these  two 
representations  and  see  how  far  there  is  agreement,  and  how  far 
there  may  be  difference  and  disagreement. 

"  But  the  author  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  does  not  propose 
to  give  us  a  history  of  the  creation  of  the  universe  out  of  nothi?t(^. 
He  represents  in  a  few  graphic  touches  the  origination  of  the 
beautiful  organism  of  our  earth  and  heaven  out  of  a  primeval 
chaos.    He  does  not  propose  to  give  us  a  narrative  of  the  method 


APPENDIX.  43 

of  the  origination  of  all  things,  but  to  describe  the  appearance  of 
certain  great  classes  of  objects  in  their  appointed  place  in  this 
beautiful  organism.  He  does  not  give  us  a  prose  history  or  a 
prose  treatise  of  creation,  but  he  presents  us  with  a  poem  of  the 
creation,  a  graphic  and  popular  delineation  of  the  genesis  of  the 
most  excellent  organism  of  our  earth  and  heaven,  with  their  con- 
tents ;  as  each  order  steps  forth  in  obedience  to  the  command  of 
the  Almighty  Chief ;  and  takes  its  place  in  its  appointed  ranks 
in  the  host  of  God.  Our  Poem  of  the  Creation  rises  above  the 
strifes  of  theologians  and  men  of  science,  and  appeals  to  the 
aesthetic  taste  and  imagination  of  the  people  of  God  in  all  lands 
and  in  all  times. 

"  The  Poem  of  the  Creation  has  all  of  the  characteristic  fea- 
tures of  Hebrew  poetry,  (i).  The  feature  of  parallelism  which 
Hebrew  poetry  shares  with  the  Assyrian  and  ancient  Akkadian, 
is  characteristic  of  our  poem  in  its  varied  forms  of  synonym, 
antithesis,  and  synthesis 

"  (2).  The  measurement  of  lines  by  words  or  word  accents  is 
as  even  and  regular  in  our  poem  as  in  the  best  specimens  of 
Hebrew  poetry.  It  has  five  poetic  accents  with  the  caesura- 
like pause  between  the  three  and  the  two,  or  the  two  and  the 
three,  which  is  characteristic  of  all  poems  of  this  number  of 
accents 

"  (3).  It  has  a  considerable  number  of  archaic  words,  such  as 
we  find  elsewhere  only  in  poetry 

"(4).  It  has  strophical  organization.  It  is  composed  of  six 
strophes  or  stanzas,  which  are  indicated  by  the  refrain,  *  And 
eveni7ig  came  a7id  morning  came,'  varying  only  in  the  number 
of  the  day.  These  strophes,  while  they  do  not  have  exactly 
the  same  number  of  lines,  vary  within  definite  limits,  e.  g., 
strophes  I.  and  II.  have  seven  lines  each  and  the  refrain ;  strophes 
HI.,  IV.,  and  V.  have  ten  lines  each  and  a  refrain.  The  last 
strophe,  the  VI.,  has  twenty  lines  and  a  refrain — or,  in  other 
words,  is  a  strophe  with  a  double  refrain — such  as  we  find,  for  ex- 
ample, in  the  allegory  of  the  vine  in  the  LXXX.  Psalm.* 

"(5).  There  are  certain  catch-words,  or  secondary  refrains, 
also  characteristic  of  Hebrew  poetry,  especially  in  the  Song  of 
Songs  and  Hosea,  e.g.:  (i)  And  God  said,  which  begins  each 


•  See  Briggs'  Biblical  Study ^  p.  277. 


44  APPENDIX. 

item  of  Creation  in  its  turn.  (2)  And  it  became  so.  (3)  And 
God  saw  that  it  was  excellent. 

"  (6).  Our  Poem  employs  poetic  license  in  the  use  of  archaic 
endings  of  suffixes  and  cases  to  soften  the  transition  from  word 
to  word  and  make  the  movement  more  flowing.  This  is  also 
to  be  noted  in  the  order  of  the  arrangement  of  the  words  in  the 
lines 

"(7).  The  language  and  style  are  simple,  graphic,  and  ornate, 
such  as  we  find  everywhere  in  poetry,  but  are  regarded  as  un- 
usual and  especially  rhetorical  in  prose. 

"  (8).  There  is  a  simple  and  beautiful  order  of  thought  which 
harmonizes  in  the  several  strophes :  God  speaks,  the  creature 
comes  forth  in  obedience,  the  Creator  expresses  his  delight  in 
his  creature.  The  Creator  then  works  with  the  creature  and 
assigns  its  place  and  functions.  The  day's  work  closes  with  its 
evening;  and  the  break  of  the  morning  prepares  for  another 
day's  work.  All  this  gives  a  monotonous  character  to  the  story 
if  it  be  regarded  as  prose,  but  it  is  in  exact  correspondence  with 
the  characteristic  parallelism  of  Hebrew  poetry,  which  extends 
not  only  to  the  lines  of  the  strophe,  but  also  to  the  correspond- 
ence of  strophe  with  strophe  in  the  greater  and  grander  harmo- 
nies of  the  poem  as  a  whole.  These  eight  characteristics  of 
the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  are  all  poetical  characteristics,  and 
we  make  bold  to  siy  that  there  is  no  piece  of  poetry  in  the 
Bible  which  can  make  greater  claims  than  this  to  be  regarded  as 
Poetry."  (Extract  from  article  on  the  Hebrew  Poem  of  the  Crea- 
tion, in  the  Old  Testament  Student,  April,  1884.  See  also  Briggs' 
Messianic  Prophecy,  p.  dZ^ 


VIII. 

THE  INTERNAL  AND  EXTERNAL  EVIDENCES  OF  INSPIRATION. 

"  Another  fault  of  the  older  apologetic  was  in  laying  too  much 
stress  upon  the  external  evidence  and  in  neglecting  the  internal 
evidence  for  the  inspiration  and  the  canonicity  of  Scripture. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  bases  the  authority  of  the  Scrip- 
tures on  the  authority  of  the  Church.    The  Reformers  rejected 


APPENDIX.  45 

this  external  authority  and  found  the  evidences  for  the  Scrip- 
tures in  the  Scriptures  themselves,  in  the  voice  of  the  living  God 
speaking  to  the  believer  in  them  and  through  them.  As  Luther 
said,  "the  Church  cannot  give  any  more  authority  or  power 
than  it  has  of  itself.  A  council  cannot  make  that  to  be  of  Scrip- 
ture which  is  not  by  nature  of  Scripture."*  The  later  Reformed 
and  Lutheran  scholastics  abandoned  the  position  of  the  Re- 
formers and  fell  back  upon  the  external  evidence  of  tradition  in 
the  synagogue  and  the  church.  In  this  they  committed  a  sad 
blunder,  which  greatly  injured  the  evidences  for  the  inspiration 
and  the  canonicity  of  the  Bible.  Recent  criticisms  have  weakened 
this  line  of  evidence  and  given  us  something  much  better  in  its 
place.  They  have  revived  the  views  of  the  Reformers  and  the 
Puritans  and  have  strengthened  the  lines  of  the  internal  evi- 
dences. Here,  again,  the  order  of  evidence  has  been  changed. 
We  do  not  first  prove  canonicity,  and  then  the  inspiration  of 
the  Scriptures,  but  the  reverse :  we  first  prove  the  inspiration  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  then  the  canonicity  is  a  matter  of  course. 

"  The  traditional  evidence  also  overestimated  the  external  au- 
thority of  the  Bible,  in  accordance  with  the  familiar  saying  that 
the  Bible,  the  Bible  alone,  is  the  religion  of  Protestants.  This 
saying  is,  however,  a  caricature  of  the  Protestant  position.  The 
Protestant  religion  is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  He  is  re- 
vealed to  us  in  the  Bible.  The  Reformers  recognized  the  living 
God,  the  risen  and  reigning  Christ,  in  the  Bible ;  and  they  re- 
garded the  Scriptures  as  a  means  of  grace  to  bring  Christ  to  us 
and  to  bring  us  to  Christ.  The  later  theology  neglected  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Scriptures  as  a  means  of  grace,  and  laid  undue  stress 
on  the  doctrine  of  their  inspiration.  It  substituted  the  authority 
of  the  external  word  of  the  letter  of  Scripture,  for  the  internal 
word  of  the  Master  of  the  Scripture.  Recent  criticisms  have  in 
part  overcome  this  fault.  They  have  pointed  out  the  fault 
of  building  our  faith  on  a  book,  instead  of  the  living  God  and 
Saviour.  They  have  called  more  attention  to  the  God  of  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  Christ  of  the  New  Testament  as  the  very 
substance,  the  light  and  glory  of  the  Bible."  (Extract  from 
Briggs'  Whither?  1889,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  pp.  280,  281.) 


Disputatio  exc.  theolog.  Joh.  Eccit,  et  Lutheri  hist.^  III.,  p.  129,  seq. 


BIBLICAL   STUDY. 


BIBLICAL  STUDY.  Its  Principles,  Methods,  and  History.  B) 
CHARLES  A.  BRIGGS,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Hebrew  and 
Cognate  Languages  in  Union  Theological  Seminary.  Crowa 
8vo,  S2.50. 

The  author  has  simed  to  present  a  guide  to  Biblical  Study  for  the 
Intelligent  layman  as  well  as  the  theological  student  and  minister  of 
the  Gospel.  At  the  same  time  a  sketch  of  the  entire  history  of  each 
department  of  Biblical  Study  has  been  given,  the  stages  of  its  develop- 
ment are  traced,  the  normal  is  discriminated  from  the  abnormal,  and 
the  whole  is  rooted  in  the  methods  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles. 

THE  BOSTON  ADVERTISER.— "The  principles,  methods,  and  history  of 
Biblical  study  are  very  fully  considered,  and  it  is  one  of  tlie  best  works  of  its  Mnd 
In  tlie  language,  if  not  the  only  book  wherein  the  modem  methods  of  the  study 
of  the  Bible  are  entered  into,  apart  from  direct  theological  teaching." 

THE  LONDON  SPECTATOR.— "Dr.  Briggs'  bookisoneof  much  value,  not  the 
less  to  be  esteemed  because  of  the  moderate  compass  into  which  its  mass  of  in- 
formation has  been  compressed." 

MESSIANIC  PROPHECY.     The  Prediction  of  the  Fulfilment  of 
Redemption  through  the  Messiah.    A  Critical  Study  of  the 
Messianic  Passages  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  Order  of 
their  Development.     By  CHARLES  A.  BRIGGS,  D.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Hebrev/  and  the  Cognate  Languages  in  the  Union 
Vheological  Seminary.    Crown  8vo,  $2.50. 
In  this  work  the  author  develops  and  traces  "the  prediction  of 
the  fulfilment  of  redemption  through  the  Messiah  "  through  the  whole 
Beries  of  Messianic  passages   and   prophecies  in  the  Old  Testament. 
Beginning  with  the  first  vague  intimations  of  the  great  central  thought 
of  redemption  he  arrays  one  prophecy  after  another  ;  indicating  clearly 
the  general  condition,  mental  and  spiritual,  out  of  which  each  prophecy 
arises  ;  noting  the   gradual  widening,  deepening,   and  clarification  of 
the  prophecy  as  it  is  developed  from  one  prophet  to  another  to  the 
end  of  the  Old  Testament  canon. 

THE  LONDON  ACADEMY.— "His  new  book  on  Messianic  Prophecy  is  a 
worthy  companion  to  his  indispensable  text-book  on  Biblical  study.  He  has  pro- 
duced the  first  English  text-book  on  the  subject  of  Messianic  Prophecy  which  a 
modern  teacher  can  use." 

THE  EVANGELIST.— "Messianic  Prophecy  is  a  subject  of  no  conunon  inter- 
est, and  this  book  is  no  ordinary  book.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  work  of  the  very 
first  order ;  the  ripe  product  of  years  of  stvidy  upon  the  highest  themes.  It  ifl 
ixegesls  in  a  master-hand." 


CHURCH    HISTORY. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  With  a  View  of  tho 
State  of  the  Roman  World  at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  By 
GEORGE  P.  FISHER,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Church 
History  In  Yale  College.    8vo,  $2.50. 

THE  BOSTON  ADVERTISER.— "  Prof.  Fisher  has  displayed  in  this,  as  In  his 
previous  published  writings,  that  cathoUcity  and  that  calm  judicial  quality  of 
mind  which  are  so  indispensable  to  a  true  historical  critic." 

THE  EXAMINER.— "The  volume  is  not  a  dry  repetition  of  well-known  facts. 
It  bears  the  marks  of  original  research.  Every  page  glows  with  freshness  of 
material  and  choiceness  of  diction."  <■ 

THE  EVANGELIST.— "The  volume  contains  an  amount  of  Information  that 
makes  it  one  of  the  most  useful  of  treatises  for  a  student  in  philosophy  and 
theology,  and  must  secure  for  it  a  place  in  his  Ubrary  as  a  standard  authority." 

HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  By  GEORGE  P. 
FISHER,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in 
Yale  University.    8vo,  with  numerous  maps,  $3.50. 

This  work  is  in  several  respects  notable.  It  gives  an  able  presenta- 
tion of  the  subject  in  a  single  volume,  thus  supplying  the  need  of  a 
conaplete  and  at  the  same  time  condensed  survey  of  Church  History. 
It  will  also  be  found  much  broader  and  more  comprehensive  than  other 
books  of  the  kind.     The  following  will  indicate  its  aim  and  scope. 

FROM  THE  PREFACE.— "There  are  two  particulars  in  which  I  have  sought 
to  make  the  narrative  specially  serviceable.  In  the  first  place  the  attempt  has 
been  made  to  exhibit  fully  the  relations  of  the  history  of  Christianity  and  of  the 
Church  to  contemporaneous  secular  history.  *  *  *  I  have  tried  to  bring  out 
more  distinctly  than  is  usually  done  the  interaction  of  events  and  changes  in  the 
political  sphere,  with  the  phenomena  which  belong  more  strictly  to  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  religious  province.  In  the  second  place  it  has  seemed  to  me  possible  to 
present  a  tolerably  complete  survey  of  the  history  of  theological  doctrine,   •    •    • 

"  It  has  appeared  to  me  better  to  express  frankly  the  conclusions  to  which  my 
Investigations  have  led  me,  on  a  variety  of  topics  where  differences  of  opinion 
exist,  than  to  take  refuge  In  ambiguity  or  silence.  Something  of  the  dispassionate 
temper  of  an  onlooker  may  be  expected  to  result  from  historical  studies  if  long 
pursued ;  nor  is  this  an  evil,  If  there  is  kept  alive  a  warm  sympathy  with  the  spirit 
of  holiness  and  love,  "wherever  it  is  manifest. 

"As  this  book  is  designed  not  for  technical  students  exclusively,  but  for  Intel- 
ligent readers  generally,  the  temptation  to  enter  Into  extended  and  minute  Uiscus- 
Blooa  on  perplexed  or  controverted  topics  has  been  resisted." 


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